I stole the idea for the “Things I Promised Not to Tell” series from a political podcaster but no posts in this series will be about politics. Instead it will feature vignettes from my photographic and sometimes personal, life. Today, it’s all about DSLRs and one camera in particular, the Canon EOS 10D.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
There is no more expensive thing than a free gift. —Michel de Montaigne
When it was launched in late 2000, the 3.1-megapixel—I don’t think anybody called’em megapixels until Olympus started doing it—Canon’s EOS D30 cost $3,000 or about $5,300 in today’s dollars. Not surprisingly, even though I had several EOS film SLRs at the time, its price tag was too expensive for me. When the 6.3-megapixel EOS D60 was introduced in 2002 it cost $1,999 or about $3,572 in 2025 dollars. For similar money today you can buy a 45.7-megapixel, full frame, mirrorless Nikon Z8, which shows that while new cameras, like that Nikon, are not cheap they’re a good value. All this history goes to show why I was slow getting my first DSLR.
After the EOS D60 had been around for a while, I managed to purchase a used one. To top it off, shortly thereafter I bought a used EOS D30 that had been converted for infrared capture (720nm) from a friend and for a good price. It even had the ED3 battery grip, although unlike the camera is looked a little rough around the edges. With these two DSLRs, I was in digital nirvana. But that feeling didn’t last long.
in February 2003, Canon announced the 6.3-megapixel Canon EOS 10D and it also sold for $1999. The camera was introduced as a replacement for the EOS D60, which was part of a series of cameras unfortunately named similarly to the designation Nikon used for it’s DSLRs. I wasn’t really sure how much different the 10D was from the D60 but then one day…
A Package Arrived on my Porch
The box had a label showing it was from Canon USA but I hadn’t requested anything from them and didn’t know what was inside until I opened it and found a brand-new Canon EOS 10D.
I had not requested this camera from Canon nor had I signed a Loan Agreement with them, which is the typical way to obtain review equipment from a manufacturer. So I called Canon’s PR department and asked the nice person I spoke with, ”Is this a present?” And he answered, “I guess it is.” I was a happy boy because this was the first (and only) time a camera company had actually given me a camera, although I suspect that is not the case for some bloggers or YouTubers. The next thing I did was sell my D60.
About My New Camera: The 10D shared similarities with the D60 and despite having a same-sized APS-C (22.7 x 15.1mm) CMOS sensor, the new camera’s sensor used a different manufacturing process allowing it to have an extended ISO range of ISO 100 to 3200 with custom functions. The 10D also included an upgraded image processor and was the first DSLR to use Canon’s DIGIC image processor chipset. The EOS 10D was introduced before Canon’s series of EF-S lenses were available and was only compatible with EF-mount lenses. As with other Canon DSLRs before it, the 10D used CompactFlash memory cards but allowed the use of 2GB capacity cards, not that I could afford one at the time.
How I Made this Portrait: The time during which I owned the “free” Canon EOS 10D and (spoilers) one that I later purchased was also when I was doing lots of glamour photography in my home using available light. I photographed Liz on the loft that was located outside the home office in my former home. The setup could not be simpler: An EOS 10D with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens with an exposure of 1/60 sec at f/2 and ISO 200 with a plus one-half stop of exposure compensation. The JPEG file was lightly retouched with a layer of the Glamour Glow filter from Color Efex.
A Year Later…
I received a phone call from that same nice Canon PR person—remember “I guess it is” a present—asking me when I was planning on returning the Canon 10D. Was I surprised? After some friendly banter back and forth and informing him that I sold my 60D because I thought the 10D was a gift, I packed up the 10D and shipped it back, even though…
By Colorado law, you have the right to keep any unsolicited package addressed to you and your address. Federal law also treats these packages as a free gift and you are under no obligation to pay for it. But this was a battle I didn’t want to fight and so…
I decided to—had to, in fact—purchase my own EOS 10D and that happened just before Canon announced their 8.2-megapixel Canon EOS 20D. Such is the life of the digital photographer.
Postscript: For many year of my photographic life, I was a Nikon shooter—Mary still is—and shot with various models of the F2. By contrast with modern DSLR camera production cycles, Nikon manufactured the F2 for nine years from 1971 to 1980.